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Back Going Under Save as PDF
Chapters (70)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  3. DEDICATION
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. PART I BIRTH
  6. ONE
  7. TWO
  8. THREE
  9. FOUR
  10. FIVE
  11. SIX
  12. SEVEN
  13. EIGHT
  14. NINE
  15. TEN
  16. ELEVEN
  17. TWELVE
  18. THIRTEEN
  19. FOURTEEN
  20. FIFTEEN
  21. PART II LIFE
  22. SIXTEEN
  23. SEVENTEEN
  24. EIGHTEEN
  25. NINETEEN
  26. TWENTY
  27. TWENTY-ONE
  28. TWENTY-TWO
  29. TWENTY-THREE
  30. TWENTY-FOUR
  31. TWENTY-FIVE
  32. TWENTY-SIX
  33. TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. TWENTY-NINE
  36. THIRTY
  37. THIRTY-ONE
  38. THIRTY-TWO
  39. THIRTY-THREE
  40. THIRTY-FOUR
  41. PART III DEATH
  42. THIRTY-FIVE
  43. THIRTY-SIX
  44. THIRTY-SEVEN
  45. THIRTY-EIGHT
  46. THIRTY-NINE
  47. FORTY
  48. FORTY-ONE
  49. FORTY-TWO
  50. FORTY-THREE
  51. FORTY-FOUR
  52. FORTY-FIVE
  53. FORTY-SIX
  54. FORTY-SEVEN
  55. FORTY-EIGHT
  56. FORTY-NINE
  57. FIFTY
  58. FIFTY-ONE
  59. FIFTY-TWO
  60. FIFTY-THREE
  61. FIFTY-FOUR
  62. FIFTY-FIVE
  63. FIFTY-SIX
  64. FIFTY-SEVEN
  65. FIFTY-EIGHT
  66. FIFTY-NINE
  67. SIXTY
  68. EPILOGUE
  69. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  70. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wake up gradually, clambering out of sleep, and roll over slightly. What time is it? Have I slept through the alarm? I fumble for my phone, feeling the weird panic that assails you in the space between asleep and awake. It’s only 3 am. Phew. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see a shape lying in the bed beside me.

I gasp, knowing immediately that something is very wrong. Dread hits me like a blow.

Something’s here.

I swallow.

Something is next to me. Something is next to me. Something has come for me. I know I have to look but I’m terrified. The fear is so intense it is visceral. Please, just make it leave.

Just breathe, I tell myself. Breathe.

I reach out tentatively to touch it but it doesn’t move. I’m not surprised. I know what it is. There’s a corpse lying next to me in my bed.

Just stay calm, I tell myself. It’s only a dead body. You’ve seen lots of dead bodies. They can’t hurt you. And you can’t hurt them.

In my dreamlike state I vaguely wonder why there is a corpse in my bed. Is it haunting me?

Katarina, says the voice of reason buried deep in the layers of my subconscious brain. Listen to me.

How can I make the dead body go away? I wonder frantically.

Kitty, says the voice, get up. Get up and turn on the light.

I squeeze my eyes shut, and feel tears starting to form. The panic floods through my brain. It’s roaring in my ears, hammering my chest. I feel bile rising in my throat. Oh my God, I’m going to be sick.

Get up! the voice commands. Get up and turn on the light!

I throw back the covers and in two giant steps have reached the switch on the wall. White brightness floods my vision.

In an instant I’m completely awake. I look down and see I am still wearing my scrub top from yesterday. I must have fallen asleep before I could get changed. I glance over at my bed.

There’s nothing to see but crumpled sheets.

I shut my eyes. A nightmare. It was just a nightmare.

Just a nightmare.

I sit down on the edge of my corpse-free bed and run my fingers through my hair. My hands are trembling.

‘Kitty?’

I look up to see Winnie and Max standing in the doorway.

‘Kitty, are you all right?’ Winnie asks.

I can only gape at them.

‘Have you been called in to work?’ Max asks, looking at the scrubs I am still wearing. ‘Is that why you were screaming? I thought you were going to the airport this morning.’

‘I was screaming?’ I say.

Winnie’s forehead is creased with worry. ‘We thought you were being fucking murdered! The whole street must have heard you.’